On Sun, 05 Dec 1999, you wrote:
> Dear friends:
>
> There is endless talk on Linux forums about the fear of fragmentation.
> Some say it's true. Others say it ain't true.
> Yet, the bottom line remains that right now you can't (or shouldn't)
> install a debian package or even a susu rpm on Red Hat or Mandrake
> (where the option to install Debian packages under Package Manager is
> clearly there but, we are told, we shouldn't do it). And vice-versa. And
> we haven't even mentioned Corel and other distros such as Stampede. Are
> we kidding ourselves? Can you speak of real interoperatibility when one
> major distro (RedHat, Mandrake, etc.) cannot install the packages of
> another major distro (Debian, Corel, etc.). In fact, we are told that we
> should even try to avoid installing Red Hat rpms on Mandrake, if
> possible. Just where does incompatibility begin and end?
>
> How can this be tolerated? Or rather how can Linux tolerate this and
> still talk about interoperatibility of distros? And what does the future
> hold?
>
That's where "Tarballs" come into play. With a tarball installation,
you can install pretty much ANY package from ANY distribution as long
as you can get it in a tarball format instead of .deb or .rpm or
whatever.
John
